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Caesar (CE)
For the character from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, see Caesar (APJ) Caesar was a genetically altered chimpanzee whose parents, Bright Eyes and Alpha, were wild chimps in the jungles of the Congo. [http://www.apescomics.com/prequel/page-01.html Rise of the Planet of the Apes prequel webcomic] Caesar was taken in by Dr. Will Rodman, who was trying to cure the Alzheimer's Disease that afflicted his father Charles. He was named in reference of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" as Charles had been quoting from the text the day Will brought Caesar home. Later in his life, Caesar would go on to rule over an ape colony and become the husband of former fellow primate shelter inmate Cornelia and become the father of a son, River and an infant child. History Rise of the Planet of the Apes Dr. Will Rodman, under the employment of Gen-Sys Laboratories, had been working with apes using 'ALZ-112' - a genetically engineered retrovirus that allows the brain to repair damaged cells through neurogenesis - in the hopes of curing Alzheimer's. A female chimpanzee named Bright Eyes was given the ALZ-112 drug which not only repaired brain cells, but increased her mental capabilities as well. Two months into her trial, while being forcibly removed from her cage, Bright Eyes went on a rampage through the facility before security was forced to kill her in front of board members. Believing the outburst to have been caused by the drug, head of Gen-Sys Steven Jacobs ordered all remaining lab apes euthanized, destroying any chance of developing ALZ-112 further. It was discovered, however, that Bright Eyes' aggression was not due to the drug, but to her maternal instinct to protect her newborn baby, whom she had secretly given birth to a day or two earlier. Robert Franklin, the chimp handler responsible for carrying out the euthanasia order, couldn't bring himself to kill the chimpanzee baby, and instead gave it to Will, who managed to smuggle the infant out of the lab and take it home with him. The baby chimp was given the name Caesar by Charles Rodman, Will's Alzheimer's-afflicted father, who, upon holding the infant, quoted Shakespeare's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(play) Julius Caesar], "But as for Caesar, Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder." Bearing the same white shooting star birthmark his father Alpha had, Caesar was incredibly intelligent for an ape of his age, immediately learning how to nurse from a bottle on his own at only two days old. This quick learning, and the flecks of green present in his irises, made Will decide to keep Caesar and raise him as his own, monitoring the ape and continuing to work on the ALZ-112 drug in secret. Right away Caesar displayed signs of heightened intelligence, learning up to twenty-four words in sign language by eighteen months of age, completing puzzles and models designed for human children eight years and up at age two, and able to play chess and complete a Lucas' Tower puzzle with a perfect score of fifteen moves at age three, continuing to show cognitive skills far exceeding a human counterpart. Will hypothesized that Caesar's heightened intelligence was a result of the ALZ-112 virus being passed down genetically from Bright Eyes to Caesar in utero, as indicated by his eyes changing to a green color - a side effect of ALZ-112 treatment - and that in the absence of damaged brain cells that needed replacing, the drug instead radically boosted healthy brain functions. When Caesar was young, he wanted to join the human children in riding a bicycle he saw out a window. When Caesar tried to steal a bicycle in his neighbour's garage, Alice Hunsiker alerted her father, who tried to beat Caesar with a bat until Will and Charles arrived to defend him. When Caesar was three years old, Will also gave a sample of ALZ-112 to his father. At first his father improved but five years later, his body's immune system developed antibodies that fought off the virus and his dementia returned. In his state of dementia, Charles got into Hunsiker's car and turned it on, the key carelessly left in the ignition. He pressed the gas and hit the cars in front of him and behind him, getting the attention of Hunsiker, who threatened and pushed Charles. Caesar was also alerted to the situation and jumped out of a window, attacking and biting the neighbor's finger in Charles's defense. After the incident, Caesar was ordered by the courts to leave Will's house and to be sent to the San Bruno Primate Shelter run by John Landon, where the apes were held in cages with the exception of intermissions where they were released into a jungle-themed play area. The apes inside the facility were treated cruelly by Landon's son, Dodge, who worked as a guard there. At the primate facility, Caesar started out being treated poorly by both the staff and by most of his ape companions. In the exercise area, he was beaten down by the dominant chimp, Rocket. Caesar also formed a friendship with Maurice, a former circus orangutan who had learned sign language as well. Later, Dodge brought his friends into the facility, who teased the apes. Without caution his male friend moved too close to Caesar's cage and was grabbed by Caesar, having his pocket knife unknowingly stolen. Caesar tied the pocket knife to a stick and used it to unlock the door and free himself. The first thing he did while free was break Buck out. After a small celebration of freedom, Buck showed his respect for Caesar. Caesar, with Buck at his side, lured Rocket into the exercise area where he hit Rocket over the head with a metal gasoline canister (one of the toys given to the apes) but did no more harm, establishing his dominance over the ape and proving he was the leader. During this encounter, Caesar gained the respect and companionship of Rocket. Caesar eventually decided to escape from the primate facility as a whole and traveled to Will's house, where he stole some canisters of an air-borne strain of 'ALZ-113' and returned to the facility, releasing it throughout the cage area and enhancing the intelligence and mental capabilities of himself and his fellow apes. He beat his sadistic caretaker, Dodge, when he noticed Caesar in the play area when he was not supposed to be. Caesar showed his first capability of speech by shouting "NO!" at Dodge, leaving him, Rodney and Buck shocked, after which Caesar incapacitated Dodge and released his fellow apes from their cells. Later, an awoken Dodge confronted Caesar. While Dodge was trying to get the water hose, Caesar pulled it back, making Dodge grab his electric cattle prod and run at Caesar, who killed Dodge by spraying him with the hose while his electric cattle prod was in his hand, electrocuting him. The apes began to beat the other surviving night watchman, Rodney, but Caesar stopped them because he had been kind to the apes, and instead locked him in a cage. The apes at the facility then escaped into the city by opening the windows above the play area and climbing through them. Caesar led them to the Gen-Sys lab, as he knew some of the shelter apes - such as Cornelia and Lucky - had been taken there for experimentation. He released all of the apes there and at the San Francisco Zoo. Caesar successfully led an escape of hundreds of apes through the streets of San Francisco. The apes battled multiple police blockades of the Golden Gate Bridge, rushing to freedom. Caesar launched a three pronged attack with the orangutans and some of the chimps led by Maurice attacking from the bottom supports, most of the chimps guided by Koba attacking from the high-wire supports, and the gorillas and several other chimps headed by Caesar, Buck, and Rocket leading the charge straight down the bridge. When the police shot one of the chimpanzees, it slipped and fell to it's death, causing an angered Maurice to lead the orangutans back to the center of the bridge. After a long battle, they finally defeated the police. However, Jacobs and a few officers arrived in a helicopter and began gunning down a large group of the apes. Buck leapt off the bridge towards the helicopter (while being shot multiple times) and landed inside. He caused the helicopter to crash onto the bridge, killing all people inside except Jacobs. Caesar rushed to a fatally wounded Buck and tried his best to help him survive, but failed in doing so. Buck then died, severely angering Caesar and the rest of the apes. Caesar walked over to the helicopter and saw a bloodied Jacobs inside. Jacobs begged Caesar to help him out, but Caesar walked away and gave Koba permission to kill Jacobs. Koba put his foot on the helicopter, causing it to tip over the edge of the bridge, presumably killing Jacobs. Caesar then led all of the apes to freedom in the Redwood Forest. Will followed them and arrived at the forest where he was attacked by Koba, who prepared to kill him. However, Caesar stopped the angry chimp before he could do any harm, and threw Koba to the ground. Angry, he ran off into the woods. Caesar helped Will up, then Will begged Caesar to come home with him and warned Caesar that he knew what humans are capable of. He guaranteed Caesar that he would be protected if he just came back home. Caesar hugged Will, and now being capable of basic human speech, informed him "Caesar is home". He assured Will that he would be safe from the masses of apes, and would be protected. Caesar then walked up to a tree, looking at his fellow apes and Will. He asked Will if he had permission to climb the tree, and Will accepted. Caesar then rushed up the tree with Maurice and Rocket. The trio then looked out upon the destruction they had caused in San Francisco, wondering what would become of them and the humans as the ALZ-113 pandemic struck mankind. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 10 years after the ape rebellion and the virus outbreak, Caesar rules over 2,000 apes in the forests of San Fransico. He will still have sympathy for the humans and relate to them. He is now married to Cornelia and they have a teenage son named River and an infant baby. More Information to come... Personality Caesar was immensely intelligent, carrying the IQ of a rocket scientist, and easily uses his intellect to an advantage. He was extremely cunning and had a tendency to use surprise attacks when threatened, as displayed when he secretly pickpockets the knife from one of the guards at his prison in order to escape and conduct his revolution. As the story progresses, Caesar is shown to be bitter, selfless, cold and vengeful, as shown when he almost callously and rather horrifically attacks a man who threatens his human grandfather, a second time when he defeats the alpha male of the colony with a mixture of cunning and aggression. A third time presents itself when he almost easily subdues and, the second time kills Dodge in a brutal confrontation. Caesar develops an emotional connection with other humans who showed him either pity or charity in the past, and appears to have connected everything he does to something people did to him, for example when he vengefully attacks a man from above as a reference to when he himself is assaulted when entering somebody’s back garden. Caesar, despite all this, carries an unfathomable mental conflict inside of him, as he is psychologically mutilated by the following: *The depression brought on when he discovers his mother was killed in cold blood by the humans. *The horror of what he did in order to protect his family *The revenge brought on when he is frequently denied freedom *The singularity of being ganged upon by other apes when he arrives at the prison *The sympathy for Buck, who had been confined to his cell permanently due to him being a potential threat to security. *The bitterness and revenge towards the people who confined him *The fury of being oppressed and unhinged by humans *The shock that Buck had just sacrificed himself to save Caesar. Caesar, due to his increased intellect, was a shockingly powerful tactician and a brilliant strategist, mastering both cunning and brute force in his upcoming battle with humanity. He appears to consider and involve every option and means of success there is and has a very analytical mind. He is a powerful leader and proudly directs the attack at the Battle of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the preference to take no prisoners. The morale and determination of his colony is dangerously increased when it is revealed that Caesar is capable of speech. Amid his incarceration, Caesar develops a somewhat mutual relationship with Maurice, the orang-utan, who share each others sympathy: Both of them were forced to perform specific deeds for the benefit and entertainment of the humans. Caesar and Maurice are both extremely determined, but Caesar carries a much vaster level of vengeance and aggression than Maurice. Caesar was considerate but very callous as he cruelly denies the pleas to save Jacobs’ life, walks away and allows Koba to, terrifyingly, finish him off. Relationships Will Rodman Will was Caesar's adoptive father. Will and Caesar had a close bond very similar to Will's relationship with his own father, Charles. Caesar adored Will and thought of him as his father. When Caesar started to question who he was after seeing a dog on a leash, Will was quick to reassure Caesar that he wasn't a pet but his and Caroline's son. Caesar's trust in Will started to deminish when Caesar was forced to move to a Primate Shelter in San Bruno after attacking the Rodman family's neighbor while defending Charles. Every time he asked Will if they were going home, Will would tell him that he wasn't going home with, which greatly upset the chimp. Finally, Caesar's dependance on Will faded completed after Will attempts to bribe Landon with money to get Caesar out. This was mainly due to the fact, that Caesar had made friends and was secretly ploting his escape with the other apes in tow. The next time Caesar sees Will is on the Golden Bridge after Will calls for him. Caesar turns to look at him in surprise. Caesar's last known interaction with Will is in the Muir Forest where Will begs him to come home. Caesar, now understanding who he is declines Will's offer and speaks to him for the first and last time saying, "Caesar is Home" which greatly surprises Will. Will gives him his blessing and watches as Caesar stands on his two back legs and descends into the trees. It is unknown whether Will and Caesar ever saw each other again after this. Charles Rodman Charles was Caesar's first human friend as well as his adoptive grandfather. When Will first bought Caesar home as a baby, Charles took an immediate liking to him and began to quote from the Shakespearean text, Julius Caesar; the quote a direct link to Caesar's role as leader of the ape colony later in life. Charles was the one who named him. The two had an unusual bond. Irena, the nurse who had been caring for Charles while Will was at work, said that Caesar (unknown to her as an ape) would be good for him. Charles loved Caesar and was quick to defend him when the neighbor attacked the then three year old. He (Charles) was greatly concerned when he and Will checked Caesar over for injuries, revealing a cut. Charles was also very encouraging of Caesar and was able to get him to climb the trees in Muir Woods for the first time. Caesar repayed Charles for his kindness five years later when the neighbor had a go at Charles, whose Alzhiemer's had returned. In Charles' defense, Caesar bit the neighbor's finger by accident. Because of this, Caesar, by court order, was sent to the San Bruno Primate House. It is likely that Caesar never saw Charles again as Will didn't take Charles with him when he and Caroline went to visit Caesar. It is unknown whether Will ever told Caesar of Charles' death. Caroline Aranha Caesar meets Caroline at the age of three when Will takes him to the Zoo for treatment after the neighbor's attack on him. Caesar takes an immediate liking to her and sets her and Will up on a date by embarassing Will. Over time, Caesar's relationship with Caroline strenghtens and he begins to consider her as his mother. Caroline is present when Will takes Caesar to Gen-Sys and explains how he came to be in Will's care. Back at the house, Caroline demands that Will tell her the full truth and he does. Appalled, Caroline tells him that things aren't meant to be controlled, ultimately defending Caesar, who is listening from his room in the attic. Caroline, along with Will travel to the Ape Shelter in San Bruno. After Caesar arrives in the animal control van and doesn't want to go inside. Caroline gently tells him that they'll go in and see what it's like inside. Caroline offers him her hand and he takes it, happy to know that he has her support. Caroline and Will visit Caesar several times during the course of his stay at the shelter. After Caesar is injured, Caroline checks him over and comments on how awfully he has been treated. After Caesar and the other apes have escaped from the shelter, Caroline finds Rodney, the only surviving human from the attack locked in a cage. Terrified, the softly spoken man tells Caroline and Will that he heard Caesar speak. Will, having pieced together where Caesar and the apes are heading, the couple head towards the forest but become stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge where Caesar has ordered a full scale attack. This is the last known time Caroline sees Caesar. Dodge Landon Right from the word go, Caesar and Dodge had a antagonistic relationship. When Caesar wanted to escape the primate shelter on his first day, Dodge promised a way out only to trap him in his cage. Caesar then throws 'Grade A Primate Chow' in Dodge's face and hoots in amusement. Dodge hoses him and continues to bully him throughout his time at the shelter. When Caesar and the other apes rebel, Dodge is their first casuality when he is eletrocuted by accident is mournful for accidentally causing his death but didn't mourn for long. Maurice From the moment he stepped foot into the ape shelter, Caesar always had former circus orangtuan, Maurice watching over him. Maurice watched from the sidelines when Caesar found himself in an unneccessary fight with then alpha ape Rocket. After seeing Caesar's potential, Maurice took it upon himself to befriend the chimp, showing him that he too could use sign language. Caesar took the orangtuan's companionship and never questioned him except his ability to use sign on their first encounter. From that moment on the two apes, stuck to each other's sides. It was Maurice who gave Caesar the idea to break into Will's house and steal the ALZ-113 drug and using it to make the other apes intelligent. Maurice was one of the apes first seen with the green irises. During the ape rebellion Maurice served as one of Caesar's lieutenants. More to come... Buck After befriending Maurice, Caesar took it upon himself to befriend the seemingly rogue Gorilla known as Buck. After this encounter, Caesar, with Buck's help manages to overthrow Rocket as Alpha. Buck ultimately becomes Caesar's loyal bodyguard and serves as one of Caesar's most loyal allies during the ape rebellion. Due to his loyalty towards Caesar, Buck sacrificed himself to save him when Caesar was being shot at during the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, which leaves Caesar devastated by the loss of his friend. Buck dies with Caesar at his side. Rocket Caesar's relationship with Rocket didn't have the humblest of beginnings. In the beginning Caesar tries to befriend Rocket but the hairless chimp who was also the Alpha male started to bully him for no apparent reason. After befriending Buck the Gorilla, Caesar is able to lure Rocket of his cage and into the play area, and is able to overthrow him as Rocket is afraid of Buck. Caesar and Rocket are able to settle their differences and they become the most unlikeliest of friends with Rocket serving as one of Caesar's key lieutenants during the ape rebellion and battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. Rocket ends up becoming Caesar's second best friend and loyal follower. More to come... Cornelia Though not seen explicitly, Caesar formed a romantic bond with a female chimp named Cornelia. After saying his farewell to Will, Caesar married Cornelia hence making her his Queen. With her he fathered a son, they named River and an infant child sometime before the rediscovery of humans in San Francisco. It is clear that they share a very loving relationship. More to come... River River is Caesar and Cornelia's son and heir. More to come... Koba Koba is Caesar's opposite. While Caesar loves humans, Koba hates them for all the time he sent in labs as a lab rat. Koba can be seen as Caesar's potential rival. In the beginning, it can be seen through the small interaction that the two apes have that Caesar trusted Koba enough to help Rocket lead the assault on the upper part of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is evident that when Caesar pushes Koba away from Will that if Caesar hadn't stepped in when he did, Koba would have killed him hinting at the rivalry that the two primates might have 10 years in the future. More to come... Malcolm After the rediscovery of humans, Caesar meets Malcolm and his family. More to come... Malcolm's Partner More to come... Notes * Caesar was named by Charles Rodman, who was mumbling quotes from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar on the day Will brought the chimp home. * An earlier version of the script notes Bright Eyes' treatment at Gen-Sys beginning on "Tuesday, March 10, 2011", with Caesar's birth following six week later (approx. 21 April, 2011). Seven years (according to that script) spent at Rodman's house would place the ape rebellion around 2018. Whether this is the correct year or not is unknown. It has been said that an August 2016 calendar was put on the set of the kitchen at Rodman's house. The film itself spans eight years, as evidenced by the captions "Three Years Later" and "Five Years Later". * The early script differs in that Rocket's eyes begin to go green (a sign of intelligence) after having bitten Caesar during their initial confrontation. After Caesar and Rocket together escape the primate facility and visit both Will's house and the lab, they use stolen scissors to share their blood with the other apes at the facility and pass on their viral intelligence. Caesar also has a relationship with Cornelia, a female chimp at the facility. The apes go to Gen-Sys lab and then to the San Francisco Zoo to free the apes Caesar has encountered over the years. At the end, Will takes a bullet intended for Caesar, and dies in his arms. * A deleted scene included in the DVD release had Caesar using his hands to push the helicopter off into the water with Jacobs inside. This would be changed to Koba using his feet to do so. * Most of Caesar's dialogue is either vocalizations, sign language, and the word "NO". To create Caesar's voice, sound designers Chuck Michael and John Larsen recorded hundreds of chimp sounds at the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Louisiana and mixed them with some of the audio Andy Serkis provided on set. The duo also aged Caesar’s voice from that of an infant to a full-grown chimp.[http://www.filmindependent.org/filmmaker-spotlight/five-films-the-sounds-the-thing/ Five Films: The Sounds’ The Thing] - Film Independent (February 6th, 2012) * It could be possible that Caesar would be more intelligent due to the fact he has been exposed to the ALZ-113, ''also that a close-up on Caesar's plotting scene and showed that his eyes were more green than before. * According to the ''Rise ''timeline, Caesar is three years old in 2013, then in 2018, the year in which the ape rebellion takes place, Caesar is 8 and can be classified as a teenager where as in the upcoming events of ''Dawn ''which takes places in 2028, ten years after the rebellion and virus outbreak, Caesar is 18 meaning he is fully grown and possibly an elder ape as his fur is graying as seen in the first offical still from the film. * The quote that Charles says when he picks up Caesar for the first time as a baby could have been prophetic in terms of Caesar growing up and becoming a leader. Trivia * Caesar is a similar character to Taylor in the original films, because of his situation and because the birthmark on his shoulder may be inspired by the burns Taylor got on his shoulder after fighting another human. * It can also be seen that this version of Caesar is similar to Roddy McDowall's Caesar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes as both become leaders of ape colonies, marry and have sons. * Similar to ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar was named after the Roman dictator Julius Caesar. Unlike Julius Caesar, he stands for leadership through kindness. * The screenwriters believed that apes sexually mature at 8 years old and that Caesar could thus potentially attack Hunsiker at that age. Although chimps can become unpredictable at age 8, they don't become adults until at or past the age of 13. * Andy Serkis has confirmed a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in which he will reprise his role as Caesar. *It is rumored, that in the second film (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes), Caesar will talk, and have longer lines of dialogue than he did in the first film. However, that is yet to be seen. * Caesar was actually to be played by three people, Andy Serkis mostly played him from infancy to adulthood, Devyn Dalton played him in some scenes when he was a toddler, and Terry Notary played Caesar in the Golden Gate Bridge battle scene. * At Comic Con 2013, Andy Serkis mentioned in an interview that in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes that Caesar will have a teenage son and wife. It was confirmed by the film's producer Dylan Clark that Caesar's wife will in fact be Cornelia while the son was only mentioned a couple of times by Jason Clarke and by Andy Serkis himself. Actor Nick Thurston announced on his Facebook page that he was playing the role of Caesar's son and that the character's name was River. In a press conference at Comic Con, Serkis mentioned that Caesar will also have an infant child as well meaning he could have more then one child in the film. * It has been suspected that Caesar actually witnessed the assumed deaths of his surrogate parents Will and Caroline. * The words Caesar speaks in ''Rise ''are: 'NO!' and 'Caesar is Home' which he says clearly while according to the film's DVD subtitles he says 'Wait!', 'Go Up' and 'Get Under' which are incoherent during the battle on the bridge. He also seems to say 'NOW!' when he emerges out of the fog on the back of a horse. * In the first offical still from the film, his shooting stair birthmark isn't visible. * When Caesar bites Hunsiker while attempting to protect Charles, it's a reference to Andy Serkis' earlier role in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy when Gollum (Serkis) bites Frodo's finger off in their final confrontation. Image Gallery risebabyCaesar.jpg|Baby Caesar Serkis gallery 10 2011 a l.jpeg|Charles Rodman comforts Caesar Serkis gallery 11 2011 a l 0.jpeg|Caesar rises Caesar2011.jpg|Caeser stealing the 113 CaesarGoodbye.jpg|"Caesar is home". caesar.jpg|Caesar's Command Thumbnail.jpg|Will Rodman and Caroline Aranha leave Caesar ThumbnailCAXO3P8A.jpg|Caesar fights Dodge Landon ThumbnailCAJKNV0O.jpg|Caesar, Rocket, Maurice and Buck ThumbnailCAELE3X4.jpg|Seeing father ThumbnailCANOL0CK.jpg|Rocket picks on Caesar ThumbnailCALWS0YU.jpg|Open space ThumbnailCA3D7Y8R.jpg|Playing with bike ThumbnailCAUX3ZYI.jpg|At the zoo with Will Rodman Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes07.jpg|Inherited the 112 Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes09.jpg|Roars at a dog Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes11.jpg|Up a tree Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes17.jpg|Golden Gate Bridge Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes19.jpg|Gen-Sys Escape Caesar.jpg|WAIT! 15Desert-scene-closer-shot-3-2-550x299.jpg|Leader Risesketch1.jpg|Caesar, Maurice and Buck art. dawn_of_the_apes_625.jpg|Caesar (First Look In DOTPOTA) Caesar (Iphone App).jpg|Caesar (App) A caesar and cornelia.jpg|Caesar And Cornelia. A free Caesar.jpg|Caesar, And His Fellow Apes. bandicam 2013-06-30 01-16-12-398.jpg|Caesar, A Kind Leader. bandicam 2013-06-27 02-02-41-135.jpg|Caesar And Rocket. bandicam 2013-06-27 01-56-40-285.jpg|Caesar And Maurice. Off Caesar.jpg|Caesar Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Poster References Category:Chimpanzees Category:CE Character Category:Male Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Heroes Category:Apes Category:CE